Locking-tongue envelope



July 3, 1923; 146mm .6. R. PERRY LOCKING TONGUE ENVELQPE Filed Nov. 19. 1921 Patented July 3, 1923.

UNITE STATES GEORGE E. PERRY, OF BROOKLYN, YORK, ASSIGNOE TO NESTERN ENVELOPE ATE OFFlQE,

CORPORATION. OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

LOCKING-TONGUE ENVELOPE.

Application filed November 19, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE R. PERRY, a citizen of the United States, residing at &O Macon Street, Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Locking-Tongue Envelopes, of which the following is a specification.

This inventionrelates to safety envelopes and has particular reference to such devices in which there is provided means for looking the tongue portion of the seallng flap so that the envelope cannot read ly come open and thereby lose its contents, even though it is not sealed with gum orother equivalent means.

Among the objects of the invention 1s to provide an envelope for the carrying of d1sk records or other relatively heavy ob3ects, such as printed circulars, books, or the like, or for use in mailing first class matter 111 connection with positive sealing means, the device including interlocking tongue and slot features so arranged or related to one another as to make it impossible for the sealing flap to open automatically and whereby, if gum, is used, it is practically impossible for the envelope to be steamed or otherwise maliciously opened without detection.

\Vith the foregoing and other obgects in view the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a plan view of one of my improved envelopes with the seallng flap and tongue open.

Fig. 2 is a similar view with the sealing flap closed and locked.

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings I show an envelope of any suitable material, size, or general design, including a front panel 10,-a rear panel 11, and a sealingv flap 12, said sealing flap being connected along the hinge line 13 to the Serial No. 516,417.

front panel so as to fold downward mainly on top of the rear anel 11 as usual.

The sealing flap is provided with a looking tongue 14 which may be formed as a part thereof or otherwise attached thereto, and shown as being located at the center of the flap. The tongue is provided with a transverse slot 15 arranged parallel to the hinge line 13. p v

The rear panel 11 is provided with two openings in longitudinal alignment with the tongue 1d. These openings are a slit 16 downward through which the tongue is adapted to be slipped, and to facilitate this action the slit is curved or crescent shaped, the convexity thereof being toward the hinge line 13 so that the lip portion 16' adjacent to the slit may easily be lifted by ones finger nail for inserting the end of the tongue therethrough. The other opening is an open slot 17, about the same length transversely of the envelope as the slot 16 and having preferably a curved are shaped boundary 17" parallel to the lip 16. The edge of the slot 17 toward the sealing flap is generally V-shaped at 18 but having formed at its apex a lip 19 projecting away from the sealing flap or toward the edge 17. The width of the lip 19 is somewhat less than the length of the slot 15 formed in the tongue, and the portion of the lip 19 connected to the main portion. of the rear panel 11 is the same distance from the hinge line 13 as is the slot 15.

After the end of the tongue is passed downward through the slit 16 as above described it is passed onward and outward through the slot 17, the operator holding downward at such time on the edge portion 17', thereby guiding the end of the tongue upward from the slot 17 until it is grasped by his thumb and finger. He then draws the tongue farther through the slit 16 and slot 17 so as to bring the slot 15 up for engagement over the lip 19. With the ten sion thus relieved on the tongue the structure of the envelope brings the tongue back to the position indicated in Figs. 2 and 3 with all parts of the envelope practically in flat position. The tongue cannot be drawn directly upward or outward from such locking position because since the parts are held substantially flat the lip' 19 having interlocking engagement in the slot 15 will prevent such movement of the tongue. If it is desired to open the envelope Without tearing or mutilation it may easily be done by the operator grasping the end of the tongue and pulling it from the lip 19, and thereafter the sealing flap may be swung around the hinge line withdrawing the tongue from the rear panel.

The nature of the construction is such that for making a safety envelope with a positive seal, gum may readily be employed if desired not only on the inner face of the sealing flap as heretofore as indicated at 20 but also on any suitable part of the tongue 11, as at :21 on the outer surface thereof, for co-operation with the portion 22 of the rear panel 11 between the slit 16 and the slot 17 so that when the tongue is locked in place as above described and sealed it cannot be readily opened. by a surreptitious processv It will, be understood that whether gum be used on any part of the envelope or not will depend upon the use for which the particular construction is intended.

, The length of the tongue 14; is so related to the position of the Slit 16 that the slotted portion of the tongue at 15 is not liable to he accidentally released from the lip 19 even though the hinge portion of the envelope be pushed or projected. In other words the parts are so designed that in order to lock the tongue over the lip 19 the operator must draw with suilicient force on the end of the tongue as to cause such a degree of tension on the sealing flap that the shoulder portions 23, next to the tongue, will bear snugly against the slittedportion of the rear panel 11. Hence when the lock is effected the natural tendency of the envelope to flatten out will automatically cause the tongue to crowd upward bringing the root portion of the lip 19 into snug engagement with the slot 15, but because of the short distance between the shoulder portions 23 and the slit 16 the tongue will not under ordinary conditions be accidentally withdrawn from said lip.

IVhile the locking features of the tongue above described are satisfactory for most puurposes, it may be desirable, especially when a lighter or cheaper grade of stock is used, to employ additional locking means, as for example by notching the edge portions of the tongue as indicated at 24 forming hooks 25, which when the end of the tongue is being manipulated to cause the lip 19 to engage through the slot 15, said hooks will naturally and automatically engage over the V-shaped edge 18 of the slot 17, making thereby three points of positive interlock between the tongue and the rear panel.

I claim:

In an envelope, the combination with a sealing flap and panel for co-operation therewith, of a locking tongue carried by the sealing flap, said panel having two transverse openings through which the tongue is projected successively in interlocking position, the transverse opening through which the tongue passes last having a lip projecting away from the sealing flap, said tongue having a transverse slot into which said lip projects in looking position, and the tongue being provided along its edges with a pair of hooks for engagement with the transverse opening having the lip.

In testimony whereof I a'liix my signature.

GEORGE E. PERRY. 

